Largest ski resort in US prepares to open its slopes in Utah


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PARK CITY — Utah ski resorts are getting excited for the upcoming season, especially now that the snow has started to fall.

Park City Mountain Resort, which is now the largest ski resort in the country, is particularly ready for the lifts to open.

When Park City and The Canyons resorts combined, the decision was made to spend $50 million on improvements — an ambitious project that's reaching the finish line in time for the Nov. 21 opening date.

"It's 7,300 acres, the resorts combined. It's about six and a half miles from one end to the other in straight-line distance. Forty-one lifts, 16 restaurants, 38 snow cats. It's big," said Bill Rock, CEO of Park City Mountain Resort.

There's been talk of connecting the side-by-side resorts for years, but when Park City and The Canyons resorts merged, the talk turned to immediate action.

When the snow melted last spring, the workers hit the mountain, creating new ski trails and widening others. Helicopters hauled in the steel poles for the lifts. The Motherload and King Con lifts have been upgraded to increase capacity.

The old Snow Hut was demolished and replaced by a brand new lodge called Miner's Camp.

"(Miner's Camp is) 18,000 square feet, (has) 500 indoor seats, state of the art kitchen — just elevated quality of food and service. People are going to be blown away by Miner's Camp," said Rock.

It is accessible from either side, thanks to the new Quicksilver gondola.

"The cornerstone centerpiece of what we've done is build a gondola that connects Canyons to Park City Mountain Resort. It'll take about eight and a half minutes to get from one side to the other," Rock said.

Now, skiers can start their day on the Park City side, ride the gondola to the midpoint, hop off, eat and warm up in one of the new lodges, and then spend the rest of the day on the Canyons side — or vice versa.

Opening day is just over a week away. The new areas of the resort will come on line in phases, with everything up and running by Christmas.

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UtahOutdoors
Keith McCord

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